Personal Project Essay Sample

Personal projects are able to let a person create a project to their suiting, on whatever topic and create whatever they want. My goal of this project is to have created a blog about books, and have reviewed and given my thoughts to. My project is aimed at mostly teenagers in order to show them that reading is a good thing and to not always get caught up in the net. The area of interaction (AOI) that has best suited my personal project is Health and Social Education due to the fact that the internet and books are part of education and both have great impacts to many peoples lives today, including mine. I intend to fulfil my goal by working hard, and making sure that I am putting all of my effort into my project to make sure that what I hand to my supervisor will be to the best of my ability. This report will outline procedures, aim and will show how my outcome will turn out.

About my Personal Project

My main goal for the assignment is to make a blog relating to books, any sort of books, whether the gender is comedy or horror and write a book review about the books I think are quite interesting, plus the books that I read in a book club, which a peer in my class has come up with for her personal project and I have linked the book club and the blogs that I am reading as they connect with one another. Another goal for this assignment is to make video diaries or a video log, which gives the blog something different to look at. These video diaries/log will consist of my thoughts and my perspective of the books that I have read, plus it will give my viewers and my supervisor a different perspective and gives the blog a more of a factor.

There are many reasons as to why the contexts of my choice are what they are. The first reason as to why the contexts of my choice are what they are basically revolves mostly on technology, accessibility and the 21st century. When was the last time a teen actually took the time out and spends a good hour roaming around bookstores and figuring out what books are good and what are not? Very rare nowadays, since technology has improved dramatically over the last 15 years. Teens and even people in there twenties are caught up with technology that they forget that there is stores that are specifically for books yet people could open up iBooks on their iPad and could access a book with just a click of a finger. This is where the blog comes in. The blog come into context as it is very easy to access if you have internet which most people do, a lot of people blog everyday and has become very known and recognized by almost everybody. Plus, it isn’t as time consuming as going to the newsagency and picking up a newspaper such as The Sun and trying to flick through the page looking for the Book Review column, instead I could open up an internet browser and type in a specific book review that I intended on looking for.

Blogs have become a major factor and recourse for students, for example, I have looked at various blogs throughout my school years and in all honesty, they are far more interesting than a review from a newspaper. I have even come across blogs that people of my age have made and these blogs have given me a whole new different perspective of books. There has even been movies based on blogs, such as a Disney channel original movie, Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars. Just the name of the movie obviously gives you an idea that the movie is based on two people battling on their own blogs.

Area of Interaction Chosen

The Area of Interaction (AOI) I have chosen for my Personal Project is mainly based on one AOI, Health and Social Education. How healthy is it for a person to spend hours on the Internet roaming nothing educational and looking at the screen for four to five hours or more a day? Not healthy at all. Health and Social Education plays a major role. Blogs can help people with more than one thing. One way as to how is that blogs have become a very educational form in learning in some aspects. It helps give people opinions in different aspects and a main example is books. Blogs can help people read a review about a book and will probably end up going to a local library and book stores to get the book they would like, or even start to read the book on their iPad of iPhone. Blogs can also give a sense of social education, as blogs have given the ability for people to write their own comments and opinions of the book and what they think about it. It gives people another way to communicate with others interested in a particular type of book they like.

Plan layout

I have devised a plan on how I will achieve my goal throughout the next couple of months with the final outcome of my Blog is due for submission. These have been outlined by weeks, which will be shown below:

Week 3 Term 2 (8/5/12) – I have finalised what I want to do as my personal project. I have also finalised what specific Area Of Interaction will be based on my project and have already started to compare and contrast between blogs in order to wrap my mind around a concept. I have also seen my supervisor at least once by that current date.

Week 5 Term 2 (22/5/12) – I have finished phase one of my personal project report and have submitted it to my supervisor for marking. I also create a goal in my head of what I want to achieve and how my product will turn out to be. I record all of what is relevant into my journal in order to not forget.

Week 7 Term 2 (5/6/12) – I have finished phase two of the reports due for the personal project and have started to list what books I would like to have written down in my journal.

July 3 – 15 ( Three Week Holidays) – I have started to write up phase three in order to not be behind in submitting my reports on the due dates. I have also started to create my blog such as adding effects and customizing different themes and layouts. This basically takes all of the holidays.

Week 2 Term 3 (24/7/12) – I have figured out which twenty-five books I want to put onto my blog. I also start to take notes on my thoughts/ideas about the books into my journal.

Week 2 – Week 5 Term 3 (24/7/12 – 16/8/12) – During this time period I have finally completed my personal project product which includes reviews of all twenty five books. I also would have finished phase four and also completed my journal in order to hand all things by the due date.

Summary

My main goal for the assignment is to make a blog relating to books that will help other people to show different types of opinions on a variety of books. The first reason as to why the contexts of my choice are what they are basically revolves mostly on technology, accessibility and the 21st century as technology as the iPod, iPad or eBooks which allows a reader to be able to buy and start reading a book with a click of their finger. The blog come into context as it is very easy to access if a person has the internet, and a lot of people blog everyday and has become very known and recognized by almost everybody. Plus, it isn’t as time consuming as going to the newsagency and picking up a newspaper and trying to flick through the pages looking for the Book Review column, instead one is able to open up an internet browser and type in a specific book review that I intended on looking for. Blogs have become a major factor and recourse for students and also for a majority of teens especially in western society especially throughout the ages of thirteen to twenty.

The Area of Interaction (AOI) is mainly based on one AOI, Health and Social Education. Blogs can help people read a review about a book and will probably end up going to a local library and book stores to get the book they would like, or even start to read the book on their iPad of iPhone. Blogs can also give a sense of social education, as blogs have given the ability for people to write their own comments and opinions of the book and what they think about it. In order to be able to finish and submit the personal project on time, a plan has been devised in order to hand everything by the due date. These will include a variety of reports and also the actual finish product of the personal project and is conducted over a course of three months.

Sources Being Used

* First Source: Internet, blogging websites
Website that will be used to create blog: www.tumblr.com – website that is being used by many student/teenagers around the world. * Second Source: Book Club, which has been done in the environment of AIA, and conducted by Furwa Asif, a fellow colleague throughout the weeks of school and is conducted during Tuesday/Thursday lunches. * Third Source: Novels/Books. No specific type of author or genre being used and a fairly good number will be used. * Fourth Source: Interviews/opinions of others. Range of people will give their opinions on books such as teachers, students, and teenagers. * Fifth Source: Authors perspectives. Different types of author’s opinions from researching and the Internet will be used to show different perspectives of books and what they think of different variety of books.

Mind Map

Ways I will Use My
Research

Justification of Techniques

Ranges of techniques were chosen in order to create this project. These techniques included:
* Books
* Internet
* Variety Of Websites
* Authors
* Opinions of Others. (eg. Other bloggers and reviewers)

The reason as to why these five are my techniques are because they are all vital in creating my product and make a great impact as well. Books are important as they are basically half of my project as my project is about the top twenty five books to read before you reach the age of twenty five.

The Internet is also a huge technique that is being used for my product. The reason as to why the Internet is a massive technique is because it is where my product will be. Since my product will be a blog about books, the Internet is a major contribution and will help me target the audience that I am aiming for which are mainly teenagers of the ages thirteen to eighteen. Without the Internet I wouldn’t be able to do what I wanted to do for my personal project.

A variety of websites is also beneficial to my techniques but it isn’t as important as the others. This is because I would not be looking at other websites, only when I want to see what other bloggers, newspapers and reviewers have written about the books that I will be using for my blog so I am able to get a fair idea of how I review the books are right. Websites will also give me a better understanding of how other people blog and review books and will also be beneficial as it will help me create my blog to the best of my ability.

Just like websites, authors won’t make as much as an impact like websites. The reason why authors are a technique is because I am able to research as to their perspective of why they wrote their book and what their outcome is supposed to be. However, I wouldn’t be using this much throughout creating my product.

Opinions of others are one of the five techniques that will be used in creating my blog. The reason being is because I would like to see what other people think about the books I will be using and their style of reviewing these books. It will show me different styles of blogging and what they think of books, whether it is good or bad.

These five techniques are all important one way or another throughout creating my blog. These techniques will help me in order to create the best blog I am able to do and even though I will be using these techniques for me product, they will also help me even after I create my product.

Description of Process (Analysis)

Figuring out what I wanted to do as my Personal Project was hard, to say the least. I had so many ideas of what I wanted to do, and the ideas in my head kept becoming larger and larger. At first, I wanted to write a novel and I was psyched at the fact that I was going to write something, but then I realised there was no way I would be able to finish, let alone become half way in a matter of handing in my product in three months. There was also a bit of a misunderstanding as to who would be my personal project supervisor and so my supervisor had been changed and so for a short period, I wasn’t able to get help or ask for ideas as to what I could do as my personal project. By the middle of term two, I grasped the fact that I needed to thing of what I wanted to for my product, and fast. So I thought of things that I loved. They turned out to be novels and also the Internet. I was happy I was able to think of techniques to use, but how could I incorporate those two together ? Then it hit me. Why don’t I create a blog about books?

I was extremely happy with what I had come up with and also found an Area Of Interaction to go with it, which happened to be Health and Social Education. Once I had found out what I wanted to do and what my AOI is, I consulted my supervisor and she had no objection to it. The next step was to figure out how I will represent my blog. My first suggestion was to use tumblr.com since I am very familiar with it and already have a blog with the site and know how to use the site really well. By Term 2 Week 5, I had already handed in Phase 1 and had started phase 2, and already had the fundamentals of what I would achieve and realised that I could finish my product and the four reports by Term 3 Week 3. I recorded all that I needed to put into my journal and recorded what I wanted to finish and how I will be able to finish it. I met up with my supervisor on Tuesdays to make sure that everything is going smoothly and to ask any questions if needed.

By the time the three weeks holidays arrived, I started to create my blog. It was a long procedure considering the fact that I couldn’t make up my mind as to how I wanted my blog to look like. After the first week had tolled by, I needed to make a decision and I needed someone to help me figure out how my design should be. After asking my cousin for her opinion, I finally figured out how my blog should be. A week and a half of the holidays passing by, I finally got to the process of creating my blog. It took a couple of days to add all the effects and pages I had wanted in order to make the blog a reflection of myself, and once the layout had been done, it was a huge weight off my shoulders. However, I hadn’t started posting anything on my site as I was still trying to figure out what twenty five novels should be on my blog.

However, I completed phase 3 during the holidays and I was able to put time and effort into my blog. By the time school came, I only had ten books that I thought were worthy enough to be on my blog. I asked peers in class as to what books they liked and it really contributed dramatically, and by the end of the second week, I had all the books that I wanted in my blog onto my journal so I wouldn’t forget. I started to actually review and blog abut books till week four. This was due to the fact that I had a number of assessments due throughout those weeks, but I was able to finish my blog by the start of week 5. Some of the books that I had used for my blog are: The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Pact by Jodi Picoult and The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. Analysis Of Research

Research has helped dramatically in creating my product. Not only has it given me more knowledge as to how you create a blog, it has also taught me that novels are things that need to be more thoroughly used, especially with this generation since many of the books that are used in my product have also become major motion pictures as well. Without research, I would not have been able to get my product to how it is now. Research has made a great impact and I never realised that without researching before starting your product, you would be missing out on many opportunities in making your product becoming the best it can be. For me, research has being a great impact as I got to use the Internet about researching different blogs and being able to see how they designed their blog and reviewed different books, and I was able to look at range of different people’s opinion about multiple novels and became really handy. Some people don’t realise that research can make a great impact, even though you might think you might not need it.

Research has helped me come up with a range of new and creative ideas in order to help me with the creation of my product. For one, it has given me new ideas as to how the layout of my blog turned out to be and changed a range of concepts that I originally was going to do, but changed my perspective for the better. Researching for my product also gave me a much better understanding on how my Area of Interaction, Health and Social Education is used throughout the internet and also in literature in novels. I didn’t realise that the AOI that was the main focus of my personal project had such an impact on everything around us, and not really realising it at the same time.

Description of my Inspiration

I guess my inspiration was always there. I have a sort of obsession with reading, it doesn’t matter if the book is horror or romance, once I start reading a book I become hooked. I think that there is nothing better than getting yourself absorbed into a book. Even though I might have a tonne of stress on my shoulders due to a workload of school work, I take out time if I think it becomes too much for me to handle and grab a book. Its almost as if the words on the page teleport me to a new world and I become too absorbed in the novel that for the period of time I’m engrossed in the book, I forget about everything, literally. Assignments due the next day, in class assessments that are worth thirty per cent of my mark due the next couple of days, peer/school pressure that almost wants me to break down, it all fades away and I become one of the characters in the book.

I find it upsetting that many teenagers of this generation don’t read enough, I think there’s nothing better than a good novel. I absolutely love the Internet, I mean what teenager doesn’t? There are so many things you are able to learn and find out by a click of a button. The Internet is a huge source of my reading as well. I love the Internet and novels. My inspiration was to create something that I would truly have fun doing, and I don’t think I could have created a completely different product AND actually have fun whilst creating it, so I decided to review books at a teenage perspective as my review may have given a totally different review from a reviewer who is at the age of thirty. Evaluation of Product

Evaluating my product, I think I have achieved what I have aimed for. I am extremely happy with the outcome I produced and took a long time to be able to achieve what I have over the course of weeks. I have put as much time and effort as I possibly could into all four reports, my product and also my journal. Looking back at my product, I realised that there were many things that I could have done to be able to create a blog to the best of my ability. For one, I could have organised my time MUCH better than I originally had. The fact that my product had been completed by the start of week five term three when originally my product was supposed to be done three weeks earlier in week two. This was a major set back of my plan that had been created at the start of phase one and really pushed back the dates of when I would be able to finish my reports. Even though I am all about organisation, my plan didn’t go to plan and created a lot of defaults along the way. Also, I think that I could have looked at other blogging websites instead of barely looking at any as at an early stage I have said that I would be using Tumblr as my source of blogging.

However, creating a blog on another website would have given me more skills and I would have been able to learn how to operate a blog on a different website and could have been more of a challenge for me, but in the end I got the result I needed. However, there were great aspects in my final product and how it came to be. For one, I was extremely impressed with the end result of my product. Although in the past couple weeks my product had not been finished, I had shown a couple of peers in class as to how my product was coming along and heard some great feedback. The feedback consisted of how impressed they were and thought that the blog was really coming along well. I was really happy with the feedback that I had received and that gave me more will power to keep going in the direction I was aiming for. But once I had finished all touch ups that needed to be done for my product (which includes colours and lighting of words) I was really impressed with what I had been able to achieve. I had been able to reach my goal and took a long way to get where I am now.

Conclusion

Reflecting back onto my product, I think it has created a major impact on myself and how I reflect on books and the Internet. I now realise that the Internet can be a major source for many things and many people throughout the course of their everyday life use it. My personal project has also impacted me in the way that it has given me a much better understanding of books and also the Internet and how it can impact a number of people. Overall, this project has given me a much better understanding of Health and Social Education, and has given me a range of techniques that I will be able to use in the future. I have learnt a lot from this experience and have realised to always manage my time wisely and to not waste time on stupid things when I could be using the time on something much more beneficial. All in all, I had a great experience creating my product and will take what I learnt from the past three months with me.